Domestic violence line takes 4000 calls

Page Tools

The Federal Government's new domestic violence crisis phone line has taken 4000 calls in its first nine days.

But the Lifeline-run Australia Says No central number was criticised yesterday for referring women directly to police rather than to support services.

The office of Family and Community Services Minister Kay Patterson said last week that figures would not be released, citing privacy of callers, but revealed the figures to The Age after "a rethink". A spokeswoman for the minister said the calls had come from women in crisis, women with domestic problems that had occurred in the past, from parents and friends of victims, men seeking counselling and children.

The Centre Against Sexual Assault program manager, Marg D'Arcy, criticised the service for directly referring at least two calls from Victoria to the sexual offences and child abuse unit rather than through a support service.

The director of the Women's Domestic Violence Crisis Service Victoria, Dr Rhonda Cumberland, said she was pleased that the campaign existed but said that women often had difficulty calling police first.